A #100,000 scheme to provide sports and activities for children and teenagers in Coventry, to steer them away from a life of crime, is set to be launched in the city this summer.

A #100,000 scheme to provide sports and activities for children and teenagers in Coventry, to steer them away from a life of crime, is set to be launched in the city this summer.

Coventry is one of 33 areas in England and Wales to benefit from a slice of #4 million funding from the Home Office for the Positive Futures scheme.

The cash will be used over the next two years to increase the provision of sporting activities and facilities for youngsters in St Michaels ward.

The area was last year highlighted as a priority neighbourhood by the city council, with a high proportion of crime in the area attributed to drug abuse.

Scheme co-ordinators will work as private trainers for the youngsters, helping to develop their interest in sports through confidence-building.

Rashid Bhayat, Positive Futures officer, said: "We started work setting up the project about seven weeks ago and it has been a very encouraging start.

"We will be working with youngsters aged 10 to 16 in the St Michaels ward who are referred to us and the main aim of the scheme will be to engage the youngsters in a range of activities, hopefully with positive effects."

Positive Futures is a partnership between the Home Office drugs unit, Sport England, the Football Foundation and the Youth Justice Board.

Schools in the electoral ward have also been involved in setting up the Coventry project.

Its aim is to divert youngsters from a life of crime, antisocial behaviour and drug abuse, and to use sport as a positive, alternative lifestyle.

Next week, Positive Futures co-ordinators will take a group of 14-year-olds from the Hillfields area of the city on a weekend trip to Derby, where they will take part in a national football tournament.